Turn Cans into Beer Steins at the Flying Saucer

Next Wednesday, from 4 to 8 p.m., the Flying Saucer in Fort Worth will hold its second annual Glasses-4-Groceries food drive. The event was created to get rid of excess glassware the location had on site after conducting numerous promotional events.

"Every Wednesday night at the Flying Saucer we do brewery night," Landon Amis, a manager at the Sundance Square location, explains. The weekly event features a single brewery offering one or two of their beers on tap and featuring custom glassware that participants can take home.

Some events are more well attended that others, however, and excess glassware tends to collect in the bar through the year, just like in dorm rooms across the country. That's when Amis got the idea to turn the pints and tankards into incentive for a beer-driven food drive.

Show up with a can of food or a cash donation and you'll have your choice of glasses. Show up with more food, and you'll have your pick of some of the more desired pieces. "The large, dimpled steins go pretty fast," says Amis.

Last year the food drive collected 500 pounds of food and raised $500 in donations for the Tarrant Area Food Bank. This year beer distributors are donating extra glasses, and Amis hopes to raise significantly more food and money.

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"Everyone feels better about themselves, the hungry get fed, and you get to free up some much needed shelf space. It’s win-win-win.

The problem is that, economically speaking, it’s totally insane."

"She estimates that they pay about 10 cents a pound for food that would cost you $2 per pound retail. You’d be doing dramatically more good, in basic dollars and cents terms, by eating that tuna yourself and forking over a check for half the price of a single can of Chicken of the Sea."

"Charities are naturally reluctant to turn down donations for fear of alienating supporters or demoralizing well-wishers, but the reality is that dealing with sporadic surges of cans is a logistical headache."

"A personal check, by contrast, can be used to order what’s needed without placing extra burdens on the staff."